Diane Powell, who is the assistant principal at Kismet Park Primary School , had a range of very interesting and relevant aspects of teaching to talk about in her lecture (see references). From accountability, including standards of conduct, performance review and registration requirements to Professional Standards such as knowing how students learn, creating safe and challenging environments to being active members of the teaching profession plus requirements from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. Numerous other essentials were discussed such as Staff Code of Conduct, Assessment and Accreditation. These must have's/do's are essential for the smooth running of the teaching profession and should not be seen as a burden. Similarly, the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PoLT), reviewed below, are a very useful guide and reminder.
Of particular interest to me were the The Four E's: Empathy = intellectual identification of oneself with another -'placing oneself in another's shoes' Energy = vigour, force, activity Efficacy = power to produce (desired) effects Evidence-based = honest judgements
By doing these, we not only run a better classroom because we understand our students and put energy and vitality into our teaching but we model these values for the children so that they may behave with and value the four E's.
Reflections by Alison Harvey
I was disappointed to miss this lecture as I caught the flu (maybe even THE flu!) at the end of my teaching rounds Another issue teachers have to face I guess, is working with children you are bound to come across some new germs!
I thoroughly enjoyed my teaching rounds. After the first few weeks of Uni, I realised how little I knew about teaching. After the first few days of rounds I realised exactly how much I had to learn! It was a very steep learning curve and threw up some new challenges, all at the last moment and unexpected. Here are a few of my reflections on the past semester's "issues".
Classroom behaviour was always a concern for me (Issues lecture week 2) and sure enough there were some challenging moments (even in a prep classroom). I taught a social skills lesson to all three classes and in one class there were several disruptive students and so classroom management was important if the other children were to learn. I enjoyed being creative (week 1) and I found that the more creative I was in my planning, the more engaged the students were with their lesson and the more they seemed to learn. I am also becoming more sure of the type of teacher I intend to be (week 3) and the teaching style I am developing. I also found it difficult prising students away from the middle of a cuddle, but quickly became used to being kind without hurting their feelings.
I was pleased to be able to produce a double page article for the school newsletter using photos and scanned work samples and my mentor was very impressed with the use of technology!
It was a great experience being able to consolidate all that we have been taught this semester. Illustration by Riley age 6, unassisted with content and spelling.
Reflections by Michelle Lotriet Before I started this course, I was not sure what to expect from the course, let alone teaching rounds. But ones I started the course I really enjoyed it, but I was anxious to start my teaching rounds. Once I started my teaching rounds I was a bit stressed, the first week was hard, and I was not sure how I would be able to handle a class on my own. Discipline was an issue for me, as I do not have any children of my own so I felt rather bad disciplining students. But once I gained confidence everything was much easier, I learned how to handle the class and it became easier and easier as the weeks went past. I also learned how to judge what the students could handle and what was too hard. Interactive lessons was really good, especially as I could see the children learning and they where all so proud of there work. Before I could find myself the four weeks were over, and I was very sad as I connected with all the students. The four weeks where really great, and I found the week 7 lecture and workshop material very useful as a child in my class had a disability and it was great to put theory into practice.
Reflectionsby Svetlana Spaseska
What an experience! I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 weeks spent at Epping Primary School. The teachers were fantastic very helpful in answering all of my question. The students in the grade 1 class that I was assigned to made my time very enjoyable. They were always on their best behaviour and some of them would be hanging off my every word! When I got the chance to teach the class I was very nervous but the children were on their best behaviour and the teacher was very helpful. Nearing the end of my time at the school I didn’t really want to leave, I loved waking up each day to go to work, I loved working with the children and I believe I gained so much from them and the teachers. This was an experience I will never forget.
Reflections by Richard Gay Yes, good to be able to put theory into practice. I approached the teaching round with much trepidation though soon relaxed and enjoyed being with and teaching the combined 3 / 4 class. I enjoyed teaching about tessellation, time, syllables, literature sessions, dragon stories focusing on interesting ways to start and adding interesting words. Also assisted with bike ed and took the kids for numerous sessions on the oval doing sporting activities. Classroom management had been a concern for me also and so I focused on this with my mentor – using different ‘voice gears’ and using positive and negative reinforcement. A very busy time doing lots of lesson plans which paid off as the kids enjoyed my teaching style. At the end of the last day a student made a speech, followed by lots of others’ impromptu mini speeches, cards and ‘The Mr Gay Rap Song’ by two boys! (only wish I’d videoed!)
Diane Powell, who is the assistant principal at Kismet Park Primary School , had a range of very interesting and relevant aspects of teaching to talk about in her lecture (see references). From accountability, including standards of conduct, performance review and registration requirements to Professional Standards such as knowing how students learn, creating safe and challenging environments to being active members of the teaching profession plus requirements from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. Numerous other essentials were discussed such as Staff Code of Conduct, Assessment and Accreditation. These must have's/do's are essential for the smooth running of the teaching profession and should not be seen as a burden. Similarly, the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PoLT), reviewed below, are a very useful guide and reminder.
Of particular interest to me were the The Four E's:
Empathy = intellectual identification of oneself with another -'placing oneself in another's shoes'
Energy = vigour, force, activity
Efficacy = power to produce (desired) effects
Evidence-based = honest judgements
By doing these, we not only run a better classroom because we understand our students and put energy and vitality into our teaching but we model these values for the children so that they may behave with and value the four E's.
Reflections by Alison Harvey
I was disappointed to miss this lecture as I caught the flu (maybe even THE flu!) at the end of my teaching rounds Another issue teachers have to face I guess, is working with children you are bound to come across some new germs!
I thoroughly enjoyed my teaching rounds. After the first few weeks of Uni, I realised how little I knew about teaching. After the first few days of rounds I realised exactly how much I had to learn! It was a very steep learning curve and threw up some new challenges, all at the last moment and unexpected. Here are a few of my reflections on the past semester's "issues".
Classroom behaviour was always a concern for me (Issues lecture week 2) and sure enough there were some challenging moments (even in a prep classroom). I taught a social skills lesson to all three classes and in one class there were several disruptive students and so classroom management was important if the other children were to learn. I enjoyed being creative (week 1) and I found that the more creative I was in my planning, the more engaged the students were with their lesson and the more they seemed to learn. I am also becoming more sure of the type of teacher I intend to be (week 3) and the teaching style I am developing. I also found it difficult prising students away from the middle of a cuddle, but quickly became used to being kind without hurting their feelings.
I was pleased to be able to produce a double page article for the school newsletter using photos and scanned work samples and my mentor was very impressed with the use of technology!
It was a great experience being able to consolidate all that we have been taught this semester.
Illustration by Riley age 6, unassisted with content and spelling.
Reflections by Michelle Lotriet
Before I started this course, I was not sure what to expect from the course, let alone teaching rounds. But ones I started the course I really enjoyed it, but I was anxious to start my teaching rounds. Once I started my teaching rounds I was a bit stressed, the first week was hard, and I was not sure how I would be able to handle a class on my own. Discipline was an issue for me, as I do not have any children of my own so I felt rather bad disciplining students. But once I gained confidence everything was much easier, I learned how to handle the class and it became easier and easier as the weeks went past. I also learned how to judge what the students could handle and what was too hard. Interactive lessons was really good, especially as I could see the children learning and they where all so proud of there work. Before I could find myself the four weeks were over, and I was very sad as I connected with all the students. The four weeks where really great, and I found the week 7 lecture and workshop material very useful as a child in my class had a disability and it was great to put theory into practice.
Reflections by Svetlana Spaseska
What an experience! I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 weeks spent at Epping Primary School. The teachers were fantastic very helpful in answering all of my question. The students in the grade 1 class that I was assigned to made my time very enjoyable. They were always on their best behaviour and some of them would be hanging off my every word! When I got the chance to teach the class I was very nervous but the children were on their best behaviour and the teacher was very helpful. Nearing the end of my time at the school I didn’t really want to leave, I loved waking up each day to go to work, I loved working with the children and I believe I gained so much from them and the teachers. This was an experience I will never forget.
Reflections by Richard Gay
Yes, good to be able to put theory into practice. I approached the teaching round with much trepidation though soon relaxed and enjoyed being with and teaching the combined 3 / 4 class. I enjoyed teaching about tessellation, time, syllables, literature sessions, dragon stories focusing on interesting ways to start and adding interesting words. Also assisted with bike ed and took the kids for numerous sessions on the oval doing sporting activities. Classroom management had been a concern for me also and so I focused on this with my mentor – using different ‘voice gears’ and using positive and negative reinforcement. A very busy time doing lots of lesson plans which paid off as the kids enjoyed my teaching style. At the end of the last day a student made a speech, followed by lots of others’ impromptu mini speeches, cards and ‘The Mr Gay Rap Song’ by two boys! (only wish I’d videoed!)